Imagine the following scenario: you’re driving through an intersection when another driver runs the stop sign and hits your car. You know the other driver caused the wreck – after all, they’re the ones that ran a stop sign, but they refuse to admit it. In fact, they’re claiming you ran the stop sign.
If that story sounds familiar to you, you’re probably wondering how you can prove what really happened. When it’s one person’s word against the other the deciding factor is the physical and witness evidence. Physical evidence from the accident’s location and its aftermath will help set the record straight.
Collecting and preserving evidence will put your Orange County car accident lawyer in the best position possible to make sure you get the compensation to which you’re entitled.
How Evidence Helps You Car Accident Case
The evidence your lawyer collects has a crucial part in the insurance and legal processes. Since judges and insurance companies weren’t there during the accident the evidence is the only way to establish a clear and objective record.
Evidence from a car accident serves dual purposes:
- Establish who is legally at fault
- The dollar value of how much damage was caused by the at-fault driver
Evidence collected by your lawyer will form the basis of an accurate accident reconstruction, a necessary component of determining legal liability. This evidence will also support your claim with your insurance company when it tries to determine how much your claim is worth.
Without evidence from the scene of an accident, your claim can face challenges not only from the other driver but from your insurance company as well.
What Evidence You Should Preserve
Many different classifications of evidence can help your auto accident case. Physical evidence is collected at the crash scene as well as from the involved drivers or any witnesses in the area. Physical evidence includes any pictures or videos, debris, damage to vehicles, tire marks on the road, damage to the scene of the accident, mobile phone records, or data from the cars’ internal computers.
Your case should also include witness statements. Witnesses for your auto accident case can include anyone who saw the wreck happen, doctors who diagnosed or treated your injuries, and expert witnesses used by your attorney.
Finally, make sure you get a police report after your accident. Courts and insurance companies consider police reports highly credible due to their objectivity and the police’s experience in writing detailed descriptions of events.
How a Car Accident Attorney Can Help in Orange County
Hiring a car accident attorney is possibly the most helpful step you can take for your case. An experienced lawyer will understand how to analyze the evidence within the law to determine where the fault lies and how much compensation you’re entitled to. They will also use the evidence to formulate a compelling legal argument based on objective facts. Finally, a well-resourced legal team may use technology such as software to digitally reconstruct the accident itself.
Gathering evidence in the wake of a car accident is critical in receiving justice for your injuries and damage to property. There’s no need for you to go through this process alone. An experienced car crash lawyer in Orange County will identify the most important aspects of a car accident and gather the relevant information to establish liability.
